Your writing mantra |
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londongirl
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 2699 |
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Posted: 03 Aug 2011 at 9:16am |
I came across the following sentence in an article about iconic industrial design and realised it equated to my writing mantra:
Remove all that is extraneous until all that remains is absolutely necessary - and beautiful. If you had a writing mantra, what would it be? |
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sutekh137
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 16 Jan 2008 Status: Offline Points: 2617 |
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I'd probably settle on the same thing as yours except without the "and beautiful" on the end. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder (the reader, in this case), so I can't really control that. Trying to make sure it is beautiful from my end feels like it runs the risk of me obsessing over it or never being able to let go of it. But by making sure I have written clearly and efficiently, whatever story I have put in play should be as accessible to the reader (including myself) as possible. That's about all I can shoot for. Some readers might really identify with the work and like it, while others might still think it's crap.
In that sense, perhaps I might tack on a different rider: Remove all that is extraneous until all that remains is absolutely necessary - then stop and set it free. Thanks, JoeK |
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Slow down. In attempting to do everything at once, you're missing it all. ============================================== |
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londongirl
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 2699 |
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Mine could be read that when you have done the first bit, the 'beautiful' is the result, whether it was your intention or not.
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sutekh137
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 16 Jan 2008 Status: Offline Points: 2617 |
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Ah, true. That's my default as well. If I have written something, anything, then I figure it is beautiful by default. I've created something that wasn't there before, and that's a Good Thing (assuming it wasn't written with a demonstrable goal of hurting someone else).
JoeK |
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Slow down. In attempting to do everything at once, you're missing it all. ============================================== |
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sootfoot5
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 04 Apr 2008 Location: outer space man Status: Offline Points: 6638 |
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sometimes, "Just write and see what happens" is good enough for me. Like, it is difficult sometimes to settle down to the task of writing. That's what is great about these comps - they force a person to just DO IT.
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Tinkerbeba
NYC Midnight Groupie Joined: 04 Apr 2011 Status: Offline Points: 88 |
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Mine would be: Say what you mean to say. Not very poetic or inspiring, but it works sometimes. :)
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jrobbins79
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 11 Jan 2010 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 779 |
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I always liked Hitchcock's "Drama is life with the dull bits cut out." Which is pretty similar to yours, LG.
If I'm writing action, I like "Blow Up the Outside World" by Soundgarden. Mantras rock!
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bbibo
NYC Midnight Groupie Joined: 18 Aug 2010 Location: Madison, WI Status: Offline Points: 53 |
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I found mine on a misprinted fortune cookie.
"You are the mast of every situation." |
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23-"The League of Intergalactic Grandpas"
http://billbibojr.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-league-of-intergalactic-grandpas.html |
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topangarose
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 21 Jan 2008 Location: California Status: Offline Points: 4739 |
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I think Soot just gave me mine....
"Just DO it!"
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dsaslav
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 08 Aug 2009 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1727 |
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I guess as a non-writer as of August 2009, I never had a mantra.
But you all have taught me so much, perhaps my mantra should reflect what I've learned: "Say it without extraneous exclamation marks!!!!" OK, seriously then: "Write as you would speak; give the reader the experience of your personal inner monologue and thought sequence. Speak all your dialogue aloud to make sure human beings would ever actually say such a thing in that way." |
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David Saslav
NYCMidnight Participant since 2009 All Prior NYCM Prompts and Stories (except one) may be found beginning August/September 2009, at http://dsaslav.blogspot.com/ |
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